


J 



^ OCOw*-' 



...J^^j^^^ H^^ 



WHO WAS THE AUTHOR OF MAY 20? 







T-* 


in 






*-• 


tH 


> 


c^ 


00 


Q. 




O) <x 


O 


UJ 




O 



That elegant production, the Declaration of Independence of May 31st, 
is conceded to be the work of Dr. Epjbraim Brevard. Dr. Brevard L<jifl 
no precedent to guide him. His was! the first paper of its kind. In it 
he declared that the authority of the i^iother country had ceased, and thaj. 
the only power of government that existed was vested in the Provincial 
and Continental Congresses. Until Congress should provide other .la-vyp_, 
he proposed a local government for the conty, founded on election by tho 
people. ., » 

Here was separation, independence, popular soverignty. Such wa§ iVjC 
Declaration of May 31st, written by the patriot Brevard. 

It is a question of historic interest who was the author of that otb^r 
document that has long been known as the Declaration of Independen.ef 
of May 2 0th. At present, his identi-ty is unknown. 

The original record of the meeting held in May, 1775, at CharJottiV 
which was in the keeping of Col. John McKnitt Alexander, was destroy^^ 
when hip residence was burned in April, 1800, and as a manuscript accQni)t 
of the proceedings was found after his death in 1817 among his old papej^/ 
one would naturally infer ithajt he was theauthor. But the internal evidenvf; 
is against that conclusion. Apparently, Colonel Alexander did not corft- 
pose with has been called "The Declaration." Xfe wrote the notes ^ji 
which the narrative and "the Declaration" were 'based, but another h&,}\4 
and brain did the final work.* He laid the foundation, but some one el«e 

Foot Note. — A fac-simile of a manuscript copy of Colonel Alexander'!* 
notes will be found in Hoyt's "Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence," 
Putnam:— a work remarkable for its fullness, accuracy, research, ami 
candor. 

erected the superstructure. While we do not know who this person wa», 
it is clear that he was not one of the old pariots who participated in the 
proceedings of May, 1775. He knew nothing of the details of those pro- 
ceedings. Colonel Alexander in his notes made some errors and omis- 
sions, all of which remain without amendment in the finished paper. Tht> 
error that the election was called by Col. Adam Alexander instead ot 
Colonel Polk appears in both; the omission of Dr. Brevard as Secretary, 
and the omission of the great meeting, and of Colonel Polk's proclaim- 
ing independence, occur in both. The unknown writer certainly kne-';v 
nothing of the proceedings, and did not aid the defective memory of CoV 
Alexander. But he was conversant with Jefferson's Fourth of July Decla- 
ration; and he was a man of ideas, fond of expressions and trained as a 
builder of sentences. Other than this, we only knew that Dr. Joseph 
Alexander did not recognize his handwriting. While the notes were writ- 
ten by his father, and his father corrected the finished account, yet D». 
Alexander -tells us that the latter was in 'Ian unknown handwrite." 
When found in 1817, the two papers were sewed together. 

Colonel Alexander's statement of facts is embraced in'the notes. J-#e 
wrote: 

"On the 19th of May, 1775, pursuant to the order of Colonel AdarA 
Alexander to each captain of militia in his regiment of Mecklenburg 
County to elect, nominate, and appoint two persons of their militia com 
pany, clothed with ample powerjv to devise ways and means to extricate 
themselves and ward off the dreadful impending storm then bursting on 
them by the British nation, etc., ete. 

"Therefore on said 19th of May the said Committee met in Charlotlo 
town, two men from each company, vested with all powers these their co)>- 
stituentB had, or conceived they had, etc. 

"After a short conference about their suffering brethren, beseige*} 



As/ 



•ud suffering every hardship in Boston, and the American blood running 
at Lexington, etc., the electric fire flew into every breast; and to preserve 
ot'der, chose Abraham Alex, Esquirje, Chairman, and J. McK. A., Secre- 
tary." 

•' It will be observed that Colonej Alexander was himself a fair writer 
^ English. 

But let us see how the unknown author expands in swelling volume 
the above plain statement: He writes: 

"fn the spring of 1775, the leading characters of Mecklenburg Coun- 
ty, stimulated by that enthusiastic patriotism which elevates the mind 
«4»ove considerations of individual agrandizement, and scorning to shel- 
tof themselves from the impending storm by submission to lawless power, 
etc., etc., held several detached meetings, in each of which the individual 
sotitiments were, etc., etc., etc., etc. 

"Conformably to these principles, Col. Adam Alexander, through so- 
licitation, issued an order to each captain's company in the county of 
Mecklenburg (then comprising the present county of Cabarrus), directing 
each militia company to elect two persons and delegate to them ample 
powers to devise ways and means to aid and assist their suffering breth- 
ren in Boston, and also generally to adopt measures to extricate mem- 
bers from the impending storm, and to secure unimpaired their inali- 
Abzle rights, privileges, and liberties from the dominant grasp of British 
ttiiposition and tyranny. 

"In conformity to said order, on the 19th of May, 1775, the said dele- 
gation met In Charlotte (town) vested with unlimited powers; at which 
time official news, by express, arrived of the battle of Lexington on that 
day of the preceding month. Every delegate felt the value and import- 
ance of the prize, and the awful and solem crisis which had arrived, — 
every bosom swelled with indignation at the malice, inveteracy, and in- 
ftStttiable revenge, developed in the late attack at Lexington. The univer- 
sal sentiment was: let us not flatter ourselves that popular harangues, 
Of resolves; that popular vapour, will avert the storm, or vanquish our 
common enemy — let us deliberate — let us calculate the issue — the prob- 
*We result — and then let us act with energy, as brethren leagued to pre- 
serve our property— our lives — and what is still more endearing, the 
liberties of America. Abraham Alexander was then elected Chairman, 
swid John McKnott Alexander, Clerk." 

One risks but little in saying that Colonel Alexander, sensible, and 
clear in his ideas, must have yielded with some reluctance to the incor- 
poration of much of the above into his narrative. 

'. .Returning to the notes: Colonel Alexander, after the organization of 
fche meeting, continued: 

*.. "After about an hour," but on second thought, he wrote: "After a 
dt^w hours free discussion, in order to give relief to suffering America 
and protect our. just and natural rights — • 

"(1) We (the county) by a solemn and awful vote, dissolved( ab- 
jlired) our allegiance to King George and the British nation. 

"(2) Declared ourselves a free and independent people, haviivg a 
«jftht and capable to govern ourselves as a part of North Carolina. 
. . "(3) In order .to have laws as a rule of life — ;for our future govern- 
ment we formed a code of laws by adopting our former wholesome laws. 
.! "(4) And as there were then no officers, civil or military, in our 
county, we decreed that every militia officer in said county, should hold 
and occupy his former commission and grade; and that every member 

present of this Committee shall henceforth as a justice of the peace 

ur the character of a committee m(an) hear and determine all con- 

lioversies agreeably to said laws, etc., etc. 
!w . "(5) Many other laws and ordinances were ttlen m(ade), after sitting 



Co-v^ 




Tip in the court-house all night, neither (sleepy, hungry, or fatigued). 
After reading and maturing every paragraph, they were all passed nem- 
con, about 12 o'clock. May 20, 1775." 

Alexander had a very fair recollection of the burnt document, — if 
that document was the Brevard Declaration of May 31st, as the present 
writer believes. 

Comparing his statement with the Brevard Declaration, we see that 
the subject of annulling the government of the mother country is con- 
fined to the first resolution in each; and that the subject of affirming 
popular government is confined to the second resolution in each. While 
the language is different, the general idea and scope of the resolutions 
are entirely the same. 

Similarly, the third resolution, in each, relate specifically to the 
sanie subject: — to form a code of laws to replace those abolished. 

The fourth and fifth resolutions of the Brevard Declaration relate, 
respectively, to new military and civil officers. Colonel Alexander follow- 
ed the same order, a paragraph to the military officers; and one to the 
civil officers; but united them under one heading. These subjects being 
disposed of, he covers the fifteen additional resolution, by this: Fifth, 
.etc., etc. Many other laws and ordinances were then made. 

In these notes he expressed substantially the respective subjects of 
the several resolutions — but not the language, which he probably could 
not recall with confidence. He recalled perfectly the order in which the 
several dieffrent subjects came, and this conclusively shows that he had 
fixed in his memory the Brevard Declaration. 

The unknown writer maintains the same order, but he inserts a pre- 
liminary resolution, not found in the notes, nor in the Brevard Declara- 
tion. He begins: 

"After a free and full discussion of his various objects for which the 
delegation had been convened, it was unanimously ordained* — 

Foot Note. — While Colonel Alexander always wrote of 't'he commit- 
tee and committeemen," the author changes it to "delegation" and "dele- 
gate"; and so, the delegation "ordained." 

"(1) That whoever directly or indirectly abetted, or in any way, 
form or manner, countenanced the unchartered and dangerous invasion of 
our rights, as claimed by G. Britain, is an enemy to this country — to 
America and to the inherent and inaliable rights of man. 

"(2) We, the citizens of Mecklenburg County (are hereby absolved 
from), do hereby disolve the political bandr y liich have connected us to 
the Mother Country, and hereby absolve o -'ves from all allegiance to 
the British Crown, and abjure all political couiiiection, contract or (de- 
pendence) association with that nation, who have wantonly trampled on 
our rights and liberties — and inhumanly shed the innocent blood of 
American patriots at Lexington. 

"(3) We do hereby declare ourselves a free and independent people, 
are, and of right ought to be, a sovereign and self-governing association, 
under the control of no power other than that of our God and the gen- 
eral government of the Congress to the maintenance of which indepen- 
dence, civil and religious, we solemnly pledge to each other our mutual 
co-operation, our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred power." 

[The four and five resolves were too similar to the third and fourth 
of the notes, although somewhat enlarged, to need repetition.] ;. 

In 1775 Dr. Brevard had no form to guide him; in 1800 the un-- 
known scribe had some acquaintance with Jefferson's Declaration. He 
inserted some phrases that were not current in May, 1775, but after- 
wards became common. These expressions were apparently not in Col. 
Alexander's mind when he prepared his notes, and it is not at all likely 



( 



that he introduced them into the finished narrative. In his notes he 
mentioned "our just and natural 'right." The unknown scribe broadens 
it into "inherent and inaliable rights of man." At first he wrote: "We, 
the citizens of Mecklenburg Couniy are hereby absolved from political 
bonds which have connected us" — but he altered it to: "do hereby dis- 
solve, etc.," "and hereby absolve ourselves from all allegience, etc." We 
* * are and of right ought to be a sovereign and self-governing asso- 
ciation." "to the maintenance of which independence, civil and reli- 
gious, we solemnly pledge to each other our mutual co-operation, our 
lives, our fortunes and our most sacred honor." 

These expressions were not coined in May, 1775, and were not in the 
notes, and their use may be attributed to the unknown scribe of 1800. 
We have seen how far he excelled the good old Colonel in descriptive 
writing; his force, his vigor, his flaming imagination, his familiarity with 
expressions, and his adept use of allitteratives, "scorning to shelter them- 
selves from the impending storm by submission to lawless power;" and 
we are surely within reason in attributing to him these fine expressions 
which are also found in Jefferson's Declaration. 

But who was this unknown scribe; who was the word-builder of that 
famous piece of composition? In 1800 was there any school master living 
in that vicinity who could have entered with genuine ardor on this labor 
of love, the restoration of a Memorial of Mecklenburg's patriotism? If so, 
his name should be rescued from oblivion. 

The subsequent history of this document is that Colonel Alexander 
sent a copy of it to General Davie, to which he carefully appended a for- 
mal certificate that as it was written from memory it might not literally 
correspond with 'the burned record; and except that copy it is not known 
that he ever allowed another copy to pass out of his possession. After 
bis death his son made a copy for Congressman Davidson, which was 
printed in the Raleigh Register in February, 1819. That was corrected 
and added to by Colonel Polk and Judge Murphey in 1821. 
Colonel Polk added: 

"Resolved, That the foregoing resolutions be adopted which 
was accordingly done unanimously, and that the Delegates sign 
their names to the same. 

"It was also resolved that a copy should be transmitted by 
express to the General Congress to be laid before that body, 
etc., etc." 
Judge Martin incorporated into his History of North Carolina (1829) 
the document as prepared by Polk and Martin, but altered it to suit 
himself, here and there. His last resolution was: 

"Resolved, That a copy of these resolutioHS be transmitted 
by express to the President of the Continental Congress, as- 
sembled in Philadelphia, to be laid before that body." 
He added: These resolutions were unanimously adopted and sub- 
scribed by the Delegates. 

The idea of sending a copy fcJf-Congress was an after -thoug ht; but 
Judge Martin, mislead by Colonel Polk, made it the sixth resolution. 

Once it was thought that Judge Martin's document was a copy taken 
from the record prior to the fire, and from that it was inferred that 
there was such an original record made in May, 17 75. But it is now- 
clear that Judge Martin used the Polk and Murphey document of 1821, 
and that the only record or copy in existence prior to 1800 was the 
Brevard Declaration of May 31, 1775. 

Every reference to the Mecklenburg Declaration prior to 1800 must 
have been to the Brevard resolves, because no othes had then been writ- 
ten. S. A. ASHE. 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




011 699 959 6 




pHSJ 



